Ex-DHMC Respiratory Therapist Surrenders N.H. License

Lebanon — A former respiratory therapist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center has surrendered his license to practice in New Hampshire in order to settle allegations that he had an inappropriate relationship with a family member of a patient.

Last month, Joel Holt voluntarily surrendered his license to the New Hampshire Respiratory Care Practitioners Governing Board. Holt admitted to no wrongdoing as part of the agreement, which went into effect July 11. However, if he were to apply again to be licensed in the state, the board would pick up the investigation where it left off and Holt could face disciplinary action, said Tina Kelley, administrator of New Hampshire’s Office of Licensed Allied Health Professionals.

Holt could not be reached for comment. DHMC had no comment on the matter beyond confirming that Holt no longer worked there.

“Mr. Holt has not been employed at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center since March 2013,” hospital spokesman Mike Barwell said in a statement. “And we cannot comment further on details of personnel matters.”

Details of the allegations against Holt are not public, Kelley said, and the case was never discussed in a hearing. As a respiratory therapist, Holt served under the supervision of a physician, she said. Respiratory therapists treat people who are suffering from heart and lung problems.

Barwell could not confirm how long Holt worked at DHMC, but he appears to have been an employee there for at least 14 years. In 1999, he was selected as the Respiratory Therapist of the Year by the Vermont-New Hampshire State Society for Respiratory Care, according to the Spring 2000 issue of Dartmouth Medicine magazine, published by the Geisel School of Medicine. The magazine said Holt was a perinatal respiratory therapist, a subspecialty that deals with childbirth.